Magic Stars (Universe on Fire Book 3), page 10
“And do you feel that I would make a mistake?” Remi asked.
“I don’t know, and can’t know until you do something stupid I guess,” he said with a shrug.
“So we will continue in the same manner? You asking advice and then following it?”
“For now, I like the way we have been collaborating so far. We work well together,” he said.
Remi felt a strange sensation that she couldn’t identify. She nodded, but didn’t speak. She was feeling awkward; she was sitting across from her father, having a relaxed conversation, and yet he had no idea who she was, not really. The more time she spent in his presence the more she wanted to tell him the truth, but now she was afraid that the truth would destroy the relationship they did have. And it wasn’t really like it was just her decision to make, considering the other Dragons here were his children, too. She tried to put those thoughts out of her head. This, especially, was not the time to think about it.
“I’ll have Anna go and inform the Enroki that we have agreed to their request. They should start moving their tribe toward the portal. We don’t know if this thing with the Rzan will explode soon or simmer for a couple more years,” Remi told him as she stood to leave.
Kane blinked at her abrupt change, but nodded. “Of course. I’ll go over what we know with Myers. He had been talking with the Darkstone tribe about what we can expect from the summit tomorrow.”
Remi left the room and headed out of the vehicle. Once outside she activated her flight scripts and floated up above the compound, letting the wind hit her face. She used her comms and relayed everything to Anna, and then she just stayed above the compound, watching the city around her. There were flying creatures going from the academy in the mountain and down to the city proper. Three airships were docked with the large platform up on one of the red towers, and one was leaving, heading south. It was such a strange sight for her, who had grown up underground in the cramped facilities of Senka. It was amazing, and yet this world, just like the ones beyond the portal, faced the same problems: War, death, greed. Politics. She sighed. Her purpose was to be better than all of that, to be able to act and protect the interests of humanity before threats appeared, and when they did, to eliminate them quickly and efficiently.
She knew that her mind worked differently than those of other beings. Looking at this city, seeing the power of what mages could build, the threats of Rzan that she was yet to evaluate, the best solution that came to her mind was simple and terrible. She would have the UTS bring bombers, nukes, and destroy every single city that could pose a threat. A surprise strike at every possible target across this world at the same time would eliminate them all—even with their magic, they wouldn’t even see the end coming. They could destroy every World Gate, isolate this world, then move in and take control over the remaining populations. There were less Elvarr than there were humans, and a campaign of a year or two would see this world firmly under their grasp. They could then expand into space, establish yards and build ships to explore this universe using their technology. They could spread out into this universe and grow powerful. They wouldn’t need Earth—they could forget the Qash’vo’tar, Zhal, and Val’ayash. Here, they would be unstoppable.
But she knew that humanity would never agree to do something like that. They would never be able to abandon Earth, and they would rather die there than find a new home—and as much as she had been trained to find the optimal solution, she was also taught to make adjustments for humanity itself. She understood, at least abstractly, that there were things that one shouldn’t do, things that were morally questionable. She had been taught what evil was, and how to make decisions that caused the least amount of harm, and yet doing those things for real was a far different experience.
“You sightseeing?” a voice from just next to her asked.
She turned to see Emma D-008 floating there. “Something like that.”
“We can tell that you’ve been bothered.”
“I have,” Remi told her.
“I mean, just because you’ve been given the lead on this mission doesn’t mean that somehow our advice is no longer valid, you know?”
“I know. It’s nothing, really—I’m just trying to adapt, that’s all,” Remi said.
“If you say so,” Emma said. “Are you sure that it doesn’t have anything to do with a hot elf mage dude?”
Remi rolled her eyes and groaned. “You know we don’t think about such things.”
“Sure, because we never had the opportunity. Now, though…”
Remi snorted.
“Well, you did look like you enjoyed dancing around with him.” Emma grinned at her.
“I was extracting information,” Remi said.
“Yeah, and maybe you’ll corner him in a dark room and try to extract something else from him t—” Emma yelped as Remi sent a ball of fire at her face.
“Hey, that was uncalled for! I was just pointing out that you want to get into his—All right! I’m joking! Stop, stop, you crazy person!” Emma screeched as Remi kept sending fireballs at her. She narrowed her eyes and glared at Emma, making sure that she wasn’t about to open her mouth again, and then she nodded and turned back to watching the city.
“So, how is it working closely with Captain Kane?” Emma asked after a minute. The other Dragons were around him, but they didn’t really interact much. Remi was the one that relayed orders, and who communicated most with him.
“He is…smart, good at his job,” Remi said.
“Of course he is. His genes produced us, so it’s only natural,” Emma grinned.
“Yeah,” Remi agreed. She did feel a certain amount of pride, he could’ve easily been the same as McCullagh, the man who had trained them in fighting and in the use of their spellscripts. He had been Kane’s teammate, the first generation of magic-wielding supersoldiers. But compared to Kane Reinhart, their teacher fell well behind—not much in skill, although there as well, but more in personality and demeanor. McCullagh had never been meant to lead, whereas Kane Reinhart was a natural leader.
“Do you ever think about telling him?” Remi asked.
“No, not really. I don’t know him. You’re the one that interacts with him, who knows him personally. To us he is just this distant figure. We respect him, but he isn’t important. What, are you thinking about it?”
“I am,” Remi said. There were no secrets between the Dragons.
“Huh. Do you think that you can be one of his family members? Somehow get back the childhood that we never had?”
Emma’s questions were genuine, and not a provocation. “I don’t know. I’m not going to tell him, not really. But sometimes… I wonder what he would think of me, you know? He can see me now and respect my skills, value my advice, but if he knew the truth? Would that change? Would he look at me in horror?”
“Ah, classic—looking for approval from a parental figure. I guess our training was a success. We do have human emotions despite not being raised as normal humans are,” Emma joked, but Remi knew that she was right.
“It doesn’t matter. He will never know,” Remi said. “Come, we should get in some training. The summit is coming and we need to be ready for anything.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Oxylus sat on top of the a large boulder that was sticking out of the howling river, in front of him was a large opening in the canyon leading deep underground. He could’ve easily touched the universe and seen what was hidden deep inside, but doing so would reveal his presence, and he didn’t want to deal with the Titans again. Instead, he was limited to more mundane means. He was still debating his options; he needed to cultivate an asset, one that could handle something like the herald of Chaos and Order. There were things in this universe that could handle something like the herald, but not many of them were suitable. This universe was ruled by the Titans, and any being powerful enough for Oxylus would be in their thrall, would be their servants.
But there were a few beings who, with a few nudges from him, could reach the level that he needed.
There were several ways to achieve this, and he was still thinking it over, wondering what the best approach was. He had already involved himself, had nudged a mortal—the young girl, Jaila, who he had awakened. He chuckled at the role he was playing, the doctor who was studying her to figure out what had happened to her. He would never figure it out, of course. What Oxylus had done was make her as he used to be, he altered her so that she could touch the most basic forces of universe with her will alone. She was not a mage; she would never need to rely on their crutches. He wondered why he had done that. He didn’t like interfering; while at times it was necessary, altering her had not been. She reminded him of the past, of a young boy who had nothing other than one opportunity that had changed his entire life.
But while changing her hadn’t been necessary, what he intended to do next would be. He had already considered using the human supersoldiers, the Dragons, but he had decided against it. They had the potential to grow strong enough on their own, and perhaps one of them would join him eventually. He did not want to mess with them. His current need meant that he had to bend some of his rules, so he had been looking at the older one, Kane Reinhart, with whom he’d already had contact with before. The man had proven himself useful, but he clearly had little potential to reach higher. Perhaps he would, but it was unlikely, and so Oxylus didn’t feel as bad with interfering. He was not yet decided, as his decision would depend on many different things, but one of those things was down deep beneath the ground.
He sighed and jumped off the boulder, flying straight toward the cave in the canyon wall, his white lab coat flapping around him. He entered the darkness, following the rushing water, and then took a right tunnel that split from the water rushing to the deeps and remained dry. He flew through the twisting tunnel, going up, then down, passing several deep caverns filled with crystals and ruins of cities from a time before the memory of this world. Eventually, he found his destination: a massive building, carved into the deepest black rock that had once long ago been a mountain up above. He landed and walked in. The ruins were old, but they were well made and had survived the eons.
He didn’t have to walk for long before he reached a vast domed hall. It had an equally massive entrance, big enough for a spaceship to pass through, but inside was a glowing eerie light of magical glyphs and power that was beyond magic. There from the circle, massive chains stretched inward, engulfing a lying shape on the ground. As Oxylus walked, the sound of his footsteps echoed, and the shape moved. It turned, and a massive head rose from the curled-up shape, and the deep gray eyes of the darkest storms fixed themselves on him.
The shape immediately dipped its head in a bow, and a deep voice rumbled. “Titan,” the beast greeted him. Oxylus could detect the weariness in the voice, the defeat.
Oxylus was standing just at the edge of the glowing circle that contained the beast. “You need not bow to me, great dragon. I am not party to their numbers. I am not a Titan.”
The dragon raised his head and looked at Oxylus surprised and confused. “What trickery is this?” A little heat entered the dragon’s voice. “Have you Titans not done enough to my kind, that now you must come and test me? Did you not punish us enough?”
Oxylus smiled. “I speak the truth, honorable dragon. Being a Titan is a choice; I am as powerful as them, but I do not agree with their views, and so I am not a part of their faction.”
“You do smell different than they…” the dragon rumbled. “If that is so, then what business do you have here with me?”
Oxylus looked at the massive black dragon. It was of a similar size to what the people of this Earth considered a cruiser, and with its wingspan it would be even larger. It was powerful, though not as powerful as the herald, not yet. Perhaps it could be, if it agreed to what Oxylus had to offer, but he was still not certain if it was worth the risk. He did not know the history of this world, or not enough of it at least. He had labored to learn as much as he could, from the records that the Elvarr kept in their darkest vaults, to looking in the minds of the greatest scholars, and still he only knew a part of the picture. When he had looked for individuals to help him in this universe, he had found a few, but he also found this one: the dragon that had been imprisoned by the Titans. He didn’t know why they had done so, but that just made him want to mess with their plans. He had encountered dragons in other universes, too—they were always powerful and wise. He knew much about their kind.
“I have come with an offer for you, great dragon. But first, I would have you tell me your story. Why have the Titans imprisoned you?”
“An offer?” the dragon rumbled. “Would you set me free?”
“Perhaps. First, the past. Tell me the truth, and I shall tell you my offer.”
The dragon blew a long breath as his body struggled under the chains, but then he spoke. “My kind traveled the worlds. We explored the stars; we built the World Gates and we gifted them to the lesser races. We were older, wiser than them, and so we labored to teach them all that we knew, to guide them in the true ways of magic and power. It was then that the Titans appeared to us, the beings that were our gods. They told us to stop teaching the other races about magic, that they were too young to understand. But we disagreed. For our disobedience, they struck us down, killed us; and me, the leader of my people, they imprisoned here, on the world that had been the seat of our power.”
Oxylus shook his head. That was typical of the Titans and their ways. They professed that they guided the mortals, but they didn’t—they toyed with them, manipulated them. They hadn’t feared that the races were too young, they feared that what the dragons taught them would make them too powerful to be controlled. They feared anyone reaching for the same heights that they had achieved. Oxylus had spent only a short time with them, but what he had seen had shown him that the Titans were selfish and hateful little beings, always afraid that someone would come and take their place. They were cowards who did nothing to stand up to Chaos and Order, who devoured their people.
What the dragon told him was the truth. He had been looking in his mind to make sure. Still, releasing it would most certainly be noticed by the Titans. Although…perhaps he could delay that reaction.
“The Titans are fools. They were scared of what you could teach the younger races, not scared for them. You did nothing wrong. What is your name, great dragon?”
The dragon blinked his eyes, looking at Oxylus with suspicion. “I was called Arsagor, the Storm Caller.”
“Well, Arsagor, Storm Caller, I am called…” Oxylus paused, thinking about which name he should use with the dragon. He had touched its mind, and he knew that it was worthy of the task that he had in mind. Dragons had always been kind to him, no matter which universe he visited. “You may call me Heart of the Mountain.”
It was not a name that he gave often, but it was the one that he held closest to his being. It defined him, and it meant many things. He was old enough to know that names had power, and his more than most.
The dragon seemed to recognize the significance, and the trust that Oxylus had given to him. The dragon bowed its head deep.
“I am honored to make meet you, great one,” the dragon said.
“As for my offer,” Oxylus spoke, “I have an enemy, one that I’ve been pursuing for a long time. I need help from people who are powerful. I would like to have your power in my service.”
“If you set me free, I will serve you,” the dragon said.
“It’s not so simple, unfortunately. I would need something else from you. Something your kind rarely do…”
Oxylus took a deep breath and told him what he needed. The dragon looked taken aback, shocked even.
“Not even the Titans knew that we could do that. How do you?” Arsagor asked.
“I have met your kind in many different universes, and I know more about your people than most. You need not decide now; I know that it is a lot to ask, even if the reward is freedom.”
“You would have me trade one prison for another,” Arsagor said.
“I know it might seem that way, but I would allow you to make the final decision,” Oxylus told him. “Think on it for a while. I still have things to put into motion, but I shall return, and when I do, I will expect an answer.”
“I shall think on it. You have my word. I’ve waited for countless eons—a little while longer is of no matter.”
With that, Oxylus nodded respectfully and walked out of the great hall, leaving the imprisoned dragon alone with his thoughts once more.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The summit was being held up in the halls of the Deravi Academy, high above the city. Remi couldn’t help but marvel at the beauty that she saw all around her as they stood on one of the city’s magical elevators. It was open to the air, and having been made into the side of the mountain, she could see the entire city stretching before her. The dam was massive, and the river surging through it constantly was even more so. She knew now that they drew power from the dam, that they had spellscripts inscribed into it to convert it to magic that they could use, similar to the spellscripts that she had to convert energy from power cells. The dam powered everything in the city: its defenses, its waste-removal scripts, as well as its heating and cooling scripts. It was a truly advanced city, only one advanced in magic rather than technology. The Ethorrians had many of the things that Earth had achieved through technology, and it was interesting, even awe-inspiring to behold.
As they reached the top, she turned and followed Captain Kane and Emissary Ronald Myers out of the elevator, her siblings Anna and Emma following behind them in their Dragon-scale armor. Dario was back at the compound along with Captain Kane’s teammates, just as last time, all ready to act in case of any trouble. The mech-frames could reach the top in moments with their blink capabilities, and the troops were ready to move.
